Maintaining Students' Extrinsic Motivation in Online Learning: Teachers' Problem

As one of the affective variables, motivation appears as predictor of the performance in a foreign language learning. One of them on the extrinsic motivation of the teacher. However, some teachers have difficulty maintaining the enthusiasm and motivation of students in learning, one of which is in an online learning environment. In this study, the researcher wanted to know the difficulties of English teachers in maintaining students’ motivation at SMP Muhammadiyah 1 Ponorogo. Researcher collected data by interviewing English teachers and also observing online learning via Whatsapp. The result indicated that the teachers’ difficulties in maintaining students’ motivation were related to difficulties in conditioning learning, inviting interaction, and controlling students’ emotions. The teachers also declared he strategies to solve the difficulties, such as providing some varieties of learning/instructional media, giving rewards, personal sharing, and cooperating with parents. If the problems that occur are not addressed, it will make the online teaching and learning process continue to decline and become increasingly unfavorable, detrimental to the teacher as well as the students and parents as well. So this strategies carried out by the teacher can make students’ enthusiasm more controlled, students are more open to the difficulties they face, students are more active in participating in online learning, and the contribution of parents in mentoring student leaning is also more intense.